HEALTH AND FITNESS: Well being and health vocabulary lesson | Options

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When I write about health issues in this column, I routinely use terms such as exercise, physical activity, and fitness. Some people have asked why I am using these different words as they all have similar meanings. This is an excellent question as these terms, while related, have different uses to health and wellbeing.

Physical activity (PA) is defined as any movement produced by muscles that use energy. PA can be classified as professional, what you do at work and leisure, what you do in your spare time. Professional PA can vary widely depending on the job, but it is low for most of us who spend a large part of our workday sitting down. Leisure PA is anything outside of work. This is of great interest to researchers as it reflects how we have spent our time. Physical activity can include pedometers, which count the steps you take, or other wearable motion sensors that measure how much you move.

Exercise is a type of physical activity that involves planned, structured, and repetitive movements to improve or maintain physical fitness. So physical fitness is a set of attributes related to the ability to perform physical activity and movement. The components of physical fitness include endurance, strength, and flexibility. Basically, participating in physical activity and exercise improves your fitness. The better you are, the better you can participate in physical activity. This applies to both professional tasks and traditional exercises such as jogging or lifting weights.

The good news is that both physical activity and exercise have health and fitness benefits. Physical activity can vary in intensity, from light (slow walking), moderate (brisk walking) or vigorous (movement such as running). The 2018 U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that at least all adults participate in moderate physical activity for 2 hours and 30 minutes per week, or vigorous activity for 1 hour and 15 minutes per week, and participate in strengthening exercises at least 2 days per week. You can meet this recommendation by brisk walking for 30 minutes 5 days a week, or running for 25 minutes 2 days a week, or a combination of both. Additional benefits result from more activities of higher intensity or longer duration.

Vigorous exercise is the best way to improve fitness, while moderate-intensity activities are strongly linked to health benefits. Fitness benefits result from adaptations in the heart and muscles that become stronger and better able to withstand fatigue. These changes also lead to health benefits such as lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, as well as helping with weight loss and weight management.

Research suggests that health and fitness benefits also result from light intensity or intermittent activities, especially when they replace sitting. At home or at work, the more time you spend sitting, even if you exercise every day, the worse your health will be. One study shows that getting up from the couch and jumping into television commercials results in nearly 25 minutes of activity per hour and burns around 150 calories, compared to 80 calories just sitting all the time. You won’t be in good shape doing this, but it is an easy way to increase your overall activity.

With this in mind, it is a good recommendation to reduce your sitting time in favor of light activity – stand while reading the newspaper or walk around while talking on the phone – and participate in moderate or vigorous activities each day by doing Take a brisk walk or do other exercise, including weight training.